Competing energy narratives in Tanzania: Towards the political economy of coal

Abstract

Can coal thrive in the era of climate change, low-carbon energy, and the global coal crisis? After years of rapid growth, global coal use fell in 2015, and projections point to a massive decline in the future.1 A recent report also shows a sharp decline in the number of new coal-fired power plants being planned in the first half of 2016, falling 14 percent globally.2 Yet, despite the possible global coal crash, Tanzania is planning a number of coal-fired power plants (listed in Table 1) to boosts its energy security and quest for industrialization, which has been declared a top government priority by President John Magufuli.